The Kandyan Convention..195 years on...

"its  a sunny and warm fine day"...said John D'Oyly in his Diary ... describing 2nd March , 1815...

After the capture of King Sri Wicrama Raja Singha by the British with the collusion of few Kandyan Chieftains,a Convention was proclaimed on March 2, 1815 between the British King's representatives and the Kandyan Chieftains acting on behalf of the people (so they said..!!!) , and the Kingdom was ceded to King George III of England. Thus ended  2358 years of continuous existence of a Sinhala Kingdom of Sri Lanka!

The Kandyan chieftains replaced the Nayakkar dynasty with the King of England and the country was ruled by a government representing the King of England who was never physically present in the kingdom.

Soon after,the convention of 1815 became restricted to a piece of paper and the chieftains found their powers, ancient customs and above all Buddhism gradually restricted and this disillusionment reflected itself in what came to be known as the Great Uva Rebellion of 1817-1818,our first war of Independence, where nearly every section of the society along with the bhikkhus and the dissatisfied nobility made one last glorious attempt to rid the country of its English rulers and in return the English waged a genocidal campaign and annihilated several thousands of Kandyan Sinhalese people, including children, the sick and the old using terror and superior firepower and troops brought down from India.

The struggle was bound to fail due to the military might of the English and in some measure due to the bickering and failure of the Sinhalese to decide on a single strong leader. in the end the family jealousies surfaced breeding traitors who were prepared to seek favour with the British for office and wealth.

Sadly today, even before we celebrate a year of gaining freedom from separatist LTTE terrorism ,we are at loggerheads..petty party politics are the order of the day and we go on undermining our laws and freedoms we enjoy...

Betrayals continue..sad!